Air-compressor.



No. 686,|I5. Patented Nov. 5, I90l. F. A. McRAE C. E. ROBERTSON.

AIR COMPRESSOR.

(Ilo Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE., y

FINLAY ALEXANDER MCRAE AND CHARLES EDWIN ROBERTSON, OF i MONTREAL,CANADA; SAID ROBERTSON ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALFY HIS RIGHT TO SAID MORAE.

AIR-COMPRESSOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 686,115, dated November5, 1901.

Original application filed November 19,1897, Serial No. 659,212. Dividedand this application iled February V2. 1899.

Renewed April 12. 1901. Serial No. 55,572. (No model.)

To et@ wwm it may concern.-

MCRAE and CHARLES EDWIN ROBERTSON, of

the city of Montreal, in the district of Mon` treal and Province ofQuebec, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAir-Compressors; and We do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the same.

Our invention relates particularly to hydraulic air-compressors; and ithas forits object to provide a plant that will give better results thanhave been. obtainable heretofore in plants forja like purpose and -beless expensive to construct.

To these ends the invention may be said brieiiy to consist of aninclined water-conductor communicating at its upper end with a body ofwat-er constituting a Water-head, means for introducing air into thewater while it is running through said shaft or chute, means for forcingair into said running water at a point where its power of compression isgreatest, said shaft or chute communicating at its lower end with achamber wherein the air and water are separated by improved means, andthe air (under the pressure of the said water-head and the water in theshaft or chute) and the water independently utilized for the developmentof power or for other purposes-such, for instance, as supplying waterfor consumption.

The broad principle of inclining the Waterconductor and otherpoints inconnection with said conductor that are incidentally illustrated anddescribed in this application form `the subject-matter of an applicationllediby us the 19th day of November, 1897, under Serial No. 659,212, andof which this is a divisional part. Forfull comprehension,however, ofour present inventionreference must be had to the accompanying'drawings,forming a part of this specicatiomin which like symbols indicate thesame parts, and wherein- Figure lis a longitudinal vertical sectionalview of a hydraulic air-com pressing plant ern-V bodying our invention;Fig. 2, a part horizontal sectional view taken on line 2 2, Fig.

y l, and part plan view thereof; Fig. 3, a de- Be it known that we,FINLAY ALEXANDER` tail cross-section illustrating one of the means thewater in the receiving-chamber; Fig. II, an enlarged horizontalsectional view taken on line 4 d, Fig. l; and Figs. and 6, detailsectional and face views, respectively, of the buckets and a portion oftheir carrying-belt.

We have illustrated our invention as applied to a stream in which thereis a natural fall equal to the depth it is requiredthat the lower end ofthe inclined water-conductor be sunk.

/Vhen our invention is to be l applied to a comparatively small stream,it will :be found advantageous to construct in any preferred manner adam 5 in order to provide .the required water-head.l The inclinedwater-conductor communicates at its upper end with the space at the footof this dam and at its lower end with an opening 7 in the lower end of"avertical cylinder S. The upper end 9 of this cylinder S is closed andprovided with an opening, to the edges of which an air-conducting pipe9L is connected, and an opening 10 is provided at the lower end of saidcylinder and diametrically opposite to lthe opening 7, while a seriesof, preferably Erve, concavoconveX vanes are provided and arranged intwo tiers, three being in ,the lower tier and separated from one anotherand two; in the upper tier and over the spaces between the vanes in thelower tier. The center vane 11 of the lower tier is secured at one endto the lower side of the lower end of the ume and extended lupwardlywithin the chamber 12 (formed by the cylinder 8) in a compound curve,asshown in Fig. l, in order to accommodate a gate or valve 15, to bepresently described, while the two side vanes 13 are secured withinthe-lower end ofthe flume and extended concentrically of the chamber 12on the same curved plane and to within a short distance of one another,the vanes 14 of the upper tier being also curved upwardly and toward oneanother. (See Fig. 2.) The gate 15 is located in suitable guideways 16,formed upon theinterior of the cylinderB on ,5K0 for facilitating theseparation 0l the air from each side of the opening 10, which openingsaid gate is caused to control by means of a rod, preferablyscrew-threaded for a portion of its length, as at 18, and taking througha screw-threaded bearing 19 in the top of the cylinder and a boring inthe vane 1l. This gate serves primarily as a means for clearing out thebottom` of the cylinder, which can be done by opening it to its fullestextent and shutting oi the air-supply. Thus the water, being released ofthe friction due to the compression of the air, will travel at itsgreatest velocity and carry with it the dirt that will be precipitatedwhile the water is traveling at its normal rate and compressing air. Theair is supplied to the water passing through the conductor by means of atube 20, extending from a point above the level of the waterhead topreferably a short distance beyond the point- 62. The upper end of thetube 20 is flared to provide a guiding-surface 21, on Vwhich a valve orgate 22 slides and open-s or closes the upper end of said tube, thisgate being operated by a screw-threaded spindle 25', (provided with ahand-wheel y26,) taking through a screw-threaded bearing 23, formed upona brace 24 and rotatably connected to a bracket 27, secured rigidly uponsaid gate. l ln order to utilize the water discharged through theopening 10 to generate power or Y to be supplied, as before mentioned,for consumption, we inclose that portion of the exterior of cylinder 8on each side of and adjacent to said opening l and from the bottom ofthe cylinder to within a short distance of the top thereof by a plate3l, having its top and side edges 32 and 33, respectively, inwardlyoffset and connected, preferably by riveting, to the outside surface ofthe cylinder 8, while the lower edge of this plate and the lower edge ofthe cylinder are rigidly connected iu any desired manner to abasesection 35. A series of hydraulic rams (indicated at 36) areconnected to the waterchamber 37, intermediate said plate 3l and thecylinder 3, by pipes 38, and by pipes 39 to a delivery-pipe 40, throughwhich the water is forced by said rams preferably back to theWater-head, although, if desired, it may be connected to any suitablehydraulic plant, where it maybe converted Ainto power for commercialpurposes or supplied for consumption, as before mentioned, the overowfrom the rams being allowed to run away, preferably through a ditch 41,to the lower level of the stream.

At dierent seasons, as is well known, all streams vary in depth orvolume, and therefore if provision is not made to counteract thisvariation a constant supply of air cannot be maintained, as thewater-pressure in the flu me and the speed of the water therethroughwill increase or decrease according as the waterhead increases ordecreases, and consequently the force of suction exerted by the waterowing through the flume upon the air in the tube 2O will at times bereduced until it will be hardly sufficient to draw said air and conveyit to the chamber 12. "To obviate this difculty, we provide a secondair-supply pipe 42 and extend same inside of the flume and from a bloweror fan (of any preferred construction and mounted and located,preferably, as indicated at 43) to within a short distance of the lowerend of the flume. This blower or fan may be driven in any approvedmanner; but we prefer to drive same by means of an endless belt or loop24, carrying a series of tilting buckets 45, (preferably of the formshown in Figs. and 6,) pivotally connected to said belt, preferably asat 46. This belt takes over a sprocket-wheel 47, mounted rigidly upon ashaft 48, carried in bearings 49, extending above the level of the waterand mounted upon the dam-timbers, and a sprocket-wheel 50, carried upona shaft 51, mounted,preferably adjacent to the mouth of the fume,inbearings 52 and in a perforation in the dam-timbers, a pulley 53 beingrigidly secured upon said shaft 48 and operatively connected to thepulley 55 of the blower by a belt 56.

It will be obvious by reference particularly to Figs. l, 5, and 6 thatthe action of the water as it flows downwardly through the Hume willcause the buckets 45 on one side of the loop to tilt out to a positionat right angles thereto, and thereby draw that portion of the belt down,while the Vsame action of the water will tilt the buckets on the otherside of the loop flat against the belt, which is in this manner causedto rotate, the rotary move- IOO ment being imparted to the blowerthrough the belt 56.

What we claim is as follows:

1. In combination with a suitable waterhead, a water-conductorcommunicating at its upper end with said water-head, means forintroducing air into the water while passing through said conductor at apoint near the lower end thereof, and means located at the lower end ofsaid conductor for separating said air and water, for the purpose setforth.

2. In combination with a suitable waterhead, a water-conductorcommunicating at its upper end wit-l1 said water-head, means for forcingair into the water while passing through said conductor at a point nearthe lower end thereof, and means located at the lower end of saidconductor for separating said air and water, for the purpose set forth.

3. ln combination with a suitable waterhead, a water-conductorcommunicating at its upper end with said water-head, means forintroducing air into the water while passing through said conductor, acylinder, an inlet-opening thereto, the lower end of said conductorbeing connected to and communicating with said opening, a series ofupwardlyextending deHecting-vanes independent of one another, locatedwithin said cylinder at said opening and arranged in two tiers, anair-conducting pipe communicating with the IIO upper end of said chamberand a water-discharge opening from said chamber, for the purpose setforth.

4. In combination with a suitable Waterhead, an inclined Water-conductorcommunicating at its upper end with said water-head, means forintroducing air into the water while passing through said conductor, acylinder, an inlet-opening thereto, the lower end of said conductorbeing connected to and communicating with said opening, a series ofupwardly-extending delecting-vanes independent of one another, locatedwithin said cylinder at said opening and arranged in two tiers, thevanes of the upper tier being over the spaces between the vanes of thelower tier, an air-conducting pipe communicating with the upper end ofsaid chamber and a waterdischarge openin g from said chamber, for thepurpose set forth.

5. In combination with a suitable water- 'head, a chamber or receptaclehaving a waterber, for the purpose set forth.

6. In combination with a suit-able waterhead, an inclinedwater-conductor communicating at its upper end with said water-head acylinder; an inlet-opening to `said cylinder; the lower end of saidconductor being connected to and communicating with said inlet-opening;a series of upwardly-extending deiiecting-vanes independent of oneanother and located within said cylinder at said opening; air-forcingmeans consisting of a blower; an air-conducting pipe leading from. saidblower to a point within the conductor in close proximity tosaidcylinder; means operated by the flowing water of said waterhead foractu ating said blower; said cylinder having a water-discharge openingand an airoutlet, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

'7. In combination with a suitable waterhead, an inclinedwater-conductor communicating at its upper end with said water-head, acylinder, an inletopening thereto, the lower end of said conductor-beingconnected to and communicating with said opening, a series ofupwardly-extendingdeiiecting-vanes independent of one another,locatedwithin said cylinder atsaid opening, a blower or the like, anair-conducting pipe leading from said blower to a point within saidconductor and in close proximity to said cylinder and means operated bythe flowing water of said waterhead for simultaneously actuatingsaidblower or the like and supplying air globules to the Water flowing intosaid inclined conductor, and a water-discharge opening from saidcylinder and an air-outlet from said cylinder, for the purpose setforth.

'8. In combination with a suitable waterhead, an inclinedwater-conductor communicating at its upper end with said water-head, acylinder, an inlet-opening thereto, the lower end of said conductorbeing connected to and communicating with said opening, a series ofupwardly-extending deflecting-vanes independent of one another, locatedwithin said cylinder at said opening, a blower or the like for forcingair into said cylinder, an airconducting pipe leading from said blowerto a point within said conductor and in close proximity to saidcylinder, a suitably-mounted shaft located above the surface level ofthe water-head, a pulley mounted upon said shaft, an endless belt takingover said pulley and extending to within a short distance of the upperend of the conductor, a series of tilting buckets pivotally secured tosaid belt, a second pulley mounted upon said shaft and an endless beltoperatively connecting said second pulley to said blower, awater-discharge opening from said cylinder and an air-outlet from saidcylinder, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we have aflixed our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

` EINLAY ALEXANDER MCRAE.

CHARLES EDWIN ROBERTSON. Witnesses:

WILLIAM P. MCFEAT, FRED. J. SEARS.

